180 



M E X I C O. 



Velcanos. 



Kivers. 



Lakes. 



Mexico. Zacatecas, and may be traced to the Sierra de los Mim- 

 ">""* fares west of the Rio Grande del Norte, thence travers- 

 ing New Mexico, and joining the Crane mountains and 

 Sierra Verde. This central branch is the crest which 

 divides the waters between the Pacific and Atlantic 

 Oceans; and it was a continuation of this branch which 

 Fidler and Mackenzie examined under the 50 and 

 55 of north latitude. 



There are five burning volcanos in Mexico, namely, 

 Ouzaba, Popocatepetl, Tustla, Jorullo, and Colinia; 

 but earthquakes and eruptions are not frequent. The 

 former are chiefly experienced on the coast of the Pa- 

 cific, and in the environs of the capital, but never pro- 

 duce such desolating effects as in the provinces of Gua- 

 timala, Cumana, Quito, and Lima. 



In New Spain there is a great want of water and of 

 navigable rivers. The great river of the north (Rio 

 Bravo del Norte) and the Rio Colorado, are the only 

 rivers distinguished by the length of their course, and 

 their volume of water. The first of these runs through 

 a course of 512 leagues from its source in the moun- 

 tains of Sierra Verde, east from the lake of Timpanogos, 

 to its mouth in the province of New Santander in the 

 Gulf of Mexico ; and the latter flows 250 leagues from 

 its origin in a hilly tract about 13 leagues west from 

 that of the del Norte, till it falls into the Gulf of Cali- 

 fornia. This last mentioned river is formed by the 

 union of the Zaguananes and the Nabajoa; and itself 

 forms ;. junction with the Gila about the 32d parallel of 

 north latitude. In the southern part of Mexico, the 

 narrow form of the continent prevents the collection 

 of a great mass of water, and the rapid declivity of the 

 Cordillera abounds in torrents rather than rivers. Those 

 which are most adapted for navigation are the Guasa- 

 cualco and the Alvarado to the south-east of Vera Cruz ; 

 the Moctezuma, which carries the waters of lake 

 Tenochtitlan to the Panuco; the Zacatula, at a small 

 sea-port of the Pacific Ocean on the frontiers dividing 

 the intendancies of Mexico and Valladolid ; and the 

 great river of Santiago, formed by the junction of the 

 Lerma and Laxas, and falling into the South Sea at the 

 port of San Bias. 



The lakes, with which Mexico abounds, are consi- 

 dered as merely the remains of immense basins of wa- 

 ter, which appear to have formerly existed on the high 

 plains of the Cordillera, and are said to be annual- 

 ly diminishing. The most remarkable are the great 

 lake of Chapala in New Gallicia, nearly 1 6'0 leagues 

 square ; the lakes in the valley of Mexico, which cover 

 a fourth part of the district ; the lake of Patzcuaro in 

 the intendancy of Valladolid, which is accounted one 

 of the most picturesque situations in the world; the 

 lakes of Mextitlan and Parras in New Biscay , and the 

 great lake of Nicaragua, about 200 miles in circum- 

 ference, in the kingdom of Guatimala. 



The mineral productions of this country form one of 

 the principal sources of its wealth, and are found in a 

 great variety of rocks and forms throughout the range 

 of the Cordilleras ; but the districts of Guanaxuato, 

 Zacatecas, and Catorce are the most abundant, and sup- 

 ply more than one half of the whole amount of precious 

 metals exported from the country. The former alone 

 yields one-fourth of the silver of Mexico, and one-sixth 

 of the produce of all America. The richest mines of 

 New Spain, arranged according to the quantity of metal 

 which they yield, are 



Guanaxuato, in the intendancy of the same name. 

 Catorce, in the intendancy of San Louis Potosi. 



Mineral 

 produc- 

 tions. 



Zacatecas, in the intendancy of the same name. Mrxic*. 



Real del Monte, in the intendancy of '"'exico. '*~~V I * 



li'ilinos, in ihe intendancy of Guadahixarn. 



Guirisamey, in the inteivlancy of Dtirango. 



Sombrerete, in the intendancy of Zacatecas. 



Tasco in the intendancy of Mexico. 



Batopilas, in the inti-ndancy of Durango. 



Ziniapan, in the intendancy of Mexico. 



Fremillo, in the intendancy of Zacatecas. 



Ramos, in the intendancy of San Luis Potosi ; and 



Parral, in the intendancy of Durango. 



The Mexican mines are considered as forming eight 

 groups, &c. and are almost all placed either on the ridge 

 or the western slope of the Cordillera of Anahuac ; and 

 it is a remarkable circumstance, that the tract which 

 yields the greatest quantity of silver, between 21 

 and 244 degrees of latitude, corresponds, in distance 

 from the equator, with the district of greatest metallic 

 wealth in Peru. The mean annual produce of the 

 whole is 2,500,000 marcs of silver, about ten times 

 more than what is furnished by all the mines of Eu- 

 rope; and 700 marcs of gold, about an equal quantity 

 to what the European mines afford. Yet the ore is by 

 no means remarkably rich ; and the mean produce of 

 the whole vein of Guanaxuato is four ounces of silver 

 per quintal of minerals. The mining operations also Mining 

 are carried on at great expense, and not always in the operations. 

 most economical manner. In the mine of Valenciana, 

 one of the richest in Guanaxuato, there is an admini- 

 strator with a salary of 2500 Sterling ; an overseer 

 under him, with several under-overseers, and nine mas- 

 ter miners, with 1800 workmen labouring in the inte- 

 rior of the mine. The expence of the powder alone 

 has often amounted to .16,668, and of the steel for im- 

 plements to 6250. A new draught pit, 87 feet in 

 circumference, and which was to reach to the enor- 

 mous perpendicular depth of 1 685 feet, was advanced, 

 (when seen by M. Humboldt in 1803,) to the depth of 

 603 feet, and was estimated to cost a million of piastres, 

 and to require the labour of 12 years before it could be 

 completed. The American miners have learned little 

 from those of Europe since the 16th century, except 

 the blowing with powder; and, though the court of 

 Madrid has frequently attempted to introduce into the 

 colonies the use of the more recent improvements in 

 mechanical and chemical science, yet, as the mines are 

 considered as the property of individuals, the govern- 

 ment has no influence in directing the operations. 



In the beginning of the JSth century, the quantity Precious 

 of gold and silver coined at Mexico, (which generally metals, 

 coincides with the quantity produced by the mines) 

 was only from five to six millions annually ; but the 

 amount has been constantly on the increase for the 

 space of 113 years, excepting the period from 1760 to 

 1767, so as to have been tripled in 50, and sextupled 

 in 100 years. This enormous increase observable in 

 late years, is attributed by M. Humboldt to a number 

 of concurring causes, particularly to " the increase of 

 population on the table land of Mexico, the progress of 

 knowledge and national industry, the freedom of trade 

 conceded to America in 1778, the facility of procuring 

 at a cheaper rate the iron and steel necessary for the 

 mines, the fall in the price of mercury, the discovery 

 of the mines of Catorce and Valentiana, and the esta. 

 blishment of the Tribunal de Mineria." This progress 

 of the mining operations is exhibited by the following 

 Table of the gold and silver given into the mint ot* 

 Mexico in periods of ten years. 



